Green overlooked for USA's Gold Cup squad

United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann will not name youngster Julian Green in his squad for next month's CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Published

10 June 2015

Julian Green will not be involved in United States' upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup campaign, Jurgen Klinsmann said on Tuesday.

Green was a surprise selection in Klinsmann's squad for last year's World Cup, but the 20-year-old has struggled since, with the Bayern Munich youngster failing to make an impact during his loan spell at Hamburg.

The 2014-15 season was step backward for Green, who only managed five appearances for Hamburg.

And Klinsmann has opted to overlook the winger for next month's Gold Cup, where co-hosts USA will face Honduras, Haiti and Panama in the group stage.

"He [Green] needs a break now," Klinsmann told reporters.

"He will go back to Bayern and they will sort out where he should be. So we leave him out of the Gold Cup and he gets a break.

"We are not disappointed [in him]. We see everybody's learning curve as a natural learning curve.

"Julian took the risk to leave the nest in Munich and go as a 19-year-old to another club. He gets in a relegation battle with a big German club and has four different coaches in one year.

"So it didn't work out as we all hoped, he struggled. But we want him to struggle in certain ways, youngsters have to go through these roller coasters. They're learning that way."

One player hoping to be involved for the defending champions is Jozy Altidore.

Altidore made his return from a hamstring injury over the weekend as Toronto defeated DC United 2-1 in MLS.

"I did a lot of work, a lot of extra sessions with Brian Lee and the medical staff. I wanted to cut it down as much as I could because I knew, if I'm called for the Gold Cup, I would miss games," said Altidore.

"It wouldn't be fair if I came back for Toronto, play a game, and then leave. I didn't want to do that."

USA begin their quest for back-to-back titles against Honduras on July 7.